Australian Paralympic Committee managed sport

High performance3

Total investment 2013–14: $5,615,000*

*This includes $4,280,000 for the APC operational expenses and $1,335,000 for the five Paralympic sports managed by the APC. In addition, $8,891,250 is provided to 13 non-APC managed Paralympic sports.

As well as overseeing the preparation of the Australian team for Paralympic Games, the Australian Paralympic Committee (APC) directly manages five high performance programs.

The wheelchair rugby team won gold at the London 2012 Paralympic Games and in 2013 won its benchmark event. While the team is on track to perform strongly in Rio, the longer term sustainability of the program could be challenged by the lack of a national competition in Australia. The recent establishment of an Australian A team is a positive step to improving the athlete pathway.

At this stage it appears unlikely powerlifting will contribute to Australia’s Paralympic Games medal target in 2016. There are currently few international-standard athletes in the system and the high performance pathway is not sufficient to increase the depth of athletes.

The APC has been developing a national boccia program since 2008, initially as a development program but more recently as a high performance program. The sport is unlikely to win a medal in Rio but the APC is targeting a strong performance in 2020.

The men’s and women’s goalball teams failed to qualify for the 2014 world championships, raising concerns about the sport’s ability to contribute to the Rio medal target. Improving athlete depth continues to be a key focus of the goalball program.

In winter sports, Australia was expected to be competitive, however most of the 2013 benchmark events were cancelled. The program achieved two bronze medals and ranked 19th on the overall medal table. Even though the medal target was achieved, the overall performance was at the low end of the expected range. Access to good quality on-snow facilities in the domestic daily training environment and access to international competition remain key issues.